CYCLE FOR A CURE

May 23, 2016 at 12:00a.m.

CANFIELD

Many people are aware that multiple sclerosis can be a debilitating, progressive disease, but Shelley Colucci is happy with the progression a beloved family member has made.

“She’s doing well now,” Colucci said, referring to her 83-year-old grandmother, Kathryn Shook of Berlin Center, who was diagnosed with MS at age 40. “She went from being bedridden to using a wheelchair to using a walker to using a cane to a leg brace. Today, she’ll probably be up there dancing.”

Shook may not have shown off any dance moves, but Colucci was the one who worked up a sweat on behalf of her grandmother during Sunday’s third annual Cycle for a Cure at the Canfield Fairgrounds.

Colucci and her husband, Chuck Colucci, own Canfield-based Pure Cycle Studio, which was one of the teams that participated in the five-hour fundraiser. An estimated 300 people paid $20 per hour to ride stationary bicycles to music to raise money for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s Ohio Buckeye Chapter, Shelley Colucci noted.

MS often is a progressive disease in which the myelin sheath surrounding nerves in the central nervous system is damaged, a process that interferes with the transfer and transmission of information from the brain to the body or within the brain. Severity and degree of symptoms vary from person to person, and some people can stay in remission for years, according to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s website.

A primary goal of Sunday’s event was to bring in $20,000 that will go toward the Bike MS Buckeye Breakaway, a 150-mile round-trip bicycle ride set for Aug. 6 and 7 between Brunswick, near Cleveland, and Ashland, explained Jennifer Hamilton, the Ohio Buckeye Chapter’s vice president of development and marketing.

Funds will be used for research, patient care and advocacy, Hamilton continued.

Colucci called her grandmother “a strong-willed person” who refuses to allow MS to define or defeat her.

“She’s loving, sweet and a most-amazing baker,” Colucci said, adding she was 5 days old when her grandmother received the diagnosis. “She’s precious.”

Also happy to pedal in place for an hour for a loved one was Lori Pastier of Salem, who came to the event on behalf of her sister-in-law, as well as several friends who have the disease.

“My sister-in-law is managing [MS] with medications and was diagnosed about 18 years ago,” while in her 30s, said Pastier, who works in the accounting business and came with her husband, Tom Pastier.

Receiving a diagnosis can be devastating for some people, so it’s vital to seek the support of those who know what it’s like to go through and live with the disease, Lori advised.

“Many local people are willing to share their stories and knowledge. Just listen to them,” added Missy Schmitt, event coordinator and captain of the Pure Cycle Studio team that will take part in the August bicycle ride.

Schmitt said she was at Sunday’s fundraiser to support a longtime friend who had been diagnosed with MS about two months ago but remains active.

Also at the Cycle for a Cure event were officers with the Canfield Police Department, who had on hand Identi-Kits, which are free safety-ID kits with cards similar to driver’s licenses that contain dates of birth, phone numbers and other vital information to better track youngsters if they are kidnapped or go missing.

Other offerings included bicycle safety tips, resource guides on living with MS, basket and bicycle raffles and various activities for children.